FY20 Exchange Network Solicitation Notice - Feb.4.2020 - FINAL.pdf

Fiscal Year 2020 National Environmental

Information Exchange Network Grant Program

Solicitation Notice

February 4, 2020

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Office of Mission Support

Environmental Information

Office of Information Management

Information Exchange and Services Division

Information Exchange Partnership Branch

Fiscal Year 2020 National Environmental Information Exchange Network Grant Program Solicitation Notice

Table of Contents

I. Funding Opportunity Description

I-A. Background

I-B. Grant Program Funding History and Results

I-C. Assistance Activities

I-D. Environmental Results Supported by Assistance Activities

I-E. Exchange Network Program Priorities

Funding Opportunities Under Priority 1

Funding Opportunities Under Priority 2

Funding Opportunities Under Priority 3

Funding Opportunities Under Priority 4

Funding Opportunities Under Priority 5

I-F. Identifying Mentors

II. Award Information

II-A. General Information

II-B. Types of Assistance

III. Eligibility Information

III-A. Eligible Applicants

III-B. Threshold Eligibility Criteria for Applications

III-C. Funding Restrictions

III-D. Eligibility Criteria for Exchange Network Partnership Applications

III-E. Cost Sharing or Matching

III.F. Performance Partnership Grants (PPG)

IV. Application and Submission Information

IV-A. Submission Date and Time

IV-B. Partnership Agreements

IV-C. Additional Provisions for Applicants Incorporated into the Solicitation

V. Application Review Information

V-A. Evaluation Criteria

V-B. Review and Selection Process

V-C. Anticipated Award Dates

V-D. Additional Provisions for Applicants Incorporated into the Solicitation

VI. Award Administration Information

VI-A. Award Notification

VI-B. Administration and National Policy Requirements

VI-C. Reporting

VI-D. Additional Provisions for Applicants Incorporated into the Solicitation

VII. Agency Contacts

Appendices

Appendix A: Programmatic Data Exchange Opportunities....................................................A-1

Appendix B: Foundational Exchange Network Shared Services ............................................B-1

Appendix C: Strengthening Partner Information Management Capabilities ...........................C-1

Appendix D: Promoting Reuse of Exchange Network Partner Products ...............................D-1

Appendix E: Detailed Instructions for Preparing and Submitting Application.......................E-1

Cover Letter Overview ...........................................................................................................E-2

Project Narrative Overview.....................................................................................................E-2

Mandatory Grant Attachments ...............................................................................................E-5

Additional Attachments (as applicable) ....................................................................................E-6

Detailed Instructions for Submitting Applications .......................................................................E-8

Appendix F: Pre-Submission Checklist.................................................................................F-1

Appendix G: Optional Cover Letter Template.......................................................................G-1

Appendix H: Optional Project Narrative Template ...............................................................H-1

Appendix I: Optional Budget Narrative Attachment Form Template ....................................I-1

Appendix J: Glossary of Terms/Phrases................................................................................J-1

Fiscal Year 2020 National Environmental Information Exchange Network Grant Program Solicitation Notice

Overview Information

Agency Name and Office:

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Office of Mission Support – Environmental Information

Funding Opportunity Title:

FY 2020 National Environmental Information Exchange Network Grant Program

Announcement Type:

Request for Applications

Notice Funding Opportunity Number:

EPA-OMS-20-01

Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number:

66.608

Information Dates:

Wednesday, March 25, 2020 – Deadline for submitting applications to EPA Thursday, October 1, 2020 – Period of performance start date

1. Funding Opportunity Description The EPA Exchange Network Grant Program is soliciting project applications using the Environmental Information Exchange Network (EN) to:

➢ Facilitate sharing of environmental data, especially through shared and reusable services.

➢ Streamline data collection and exchanges to improve its timeliness for decision making.

➢ Increase the quality and access to environmental data through discovery, publishing, outbound and analytical services so it is more useful to environmental managers.

➢ Develop foundational EN shared services to reduce burden and avoid costs for co-regulators and the regulated community.

➢ Expand and improve participation in the EN by strengthening the requisite information management and technology capabilities for interested parties to fully participate in the EN.

Section I-E summarizes the priorities and associated activities eligible for funding through the FY 2020 EN Grant Program competitive grant process.

I-A. Background The Exchange Network (EN) was launched in 2002 as an inter-governmental, collaborative partnership of EPA, states, territories, and tribes to foster better environmental management and decision-making through increased access to timely, high quality environmental information. This was achieved through a standards-based approach to facilitate environmental data sharing among EPA, states, tribes and territories. The framework adopted allows organizations to exchange data over the Internet regardless of the specific information technology used.

(See http://www.exchangenetwork.net/)

The EN is the foundation of E-Enterprise for the Environment (EE), also a joint state, tribal, territory and EPA partnership. Launched in 2013, EE uses a shared governance model to streamline business processes and leverage technology. Through this model, environmental leaders from EPA, states, tribes and territories work to deliver better environmental results, often with lower costs and less burden, for the benefit of government agencies, the regulated community, and the public.

Today, through EE, environmental agencies are streamlining processes and reimagining ways to use technology to achieve better environmental outcomes and provide more responsive services to the regulated community and the public.

The governance bodies of the EN and EE efforts merged in 2015 and governance activities are referred to as EE/EN governance. This formal integration ensures that a single management board and operations team support the goals and principles of both efforts under the strategic direction of the E-Enterprise Leadership Council (EELC). The EN remains the key mechanism for implementing the technological aspects of business processes streamlining and reengineering as pursued by the EE Initiative.

Phase 1 of EN implementation focused on transforming the regulatory reporting processes of eight national data flows, by moving them from out-of-date reporting methods to standardized electronic reporting approaches based on EN data standards and technology.

Phase 2, initiated in 2013, focused on expanding the availability of published data and making the process of sharing data more efficient. This was done by developing data analysis and display services, making those services available to all partners, implementing innovative data collection, monitoring and analytical systems, and enabling more electronic reporting.

With the release of the E-Enterprise Digital Strategy (EEDS), the EN is transitioning into Phase 3 of its implementation. The EEDS was commissioned by the EELC to help environmental agencies coordinate and share their investments in new technologies to deliver better environmental protection services. The EEDS is a living document, built on the foundation laid by the EN, that will evolve in response to changing technologies and programmatic needs. It also serves as a high-level framework for an environmental enterprise that is Customer-Centric, Information-Centric, and based on Shared Platforms and Services. The most current version of the EEDS is available at https://e-enterprisefortheenvironment.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Interim-E-Enterprise-Digital- Strategy-V-2.0.pdf or https://e-enterprisefortheenvironment.net/our-projects/digital-strategy/.

http://www.exchangenetwork.net/ https://e-enterprisefortheenvironment.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Interim-E-Enterprise-Digital-Strategy-V-2.0.pdf https://e-enterprisefortheenvironment.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Interim-E-Enterprise-Digital-Strategy-V-2.0.pdf https://e-enterprisefortheenvironment.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Interim-E-Enterprise-Digital-Strategy-V-2.0.pdf https://e-enterprisefortheenvironment.net/our-projects/digital-strategy/

The EEDS will be followed by:

➢ A Business Case that presents the EELC’s vision for the future of environmental protection and the benefits of pursuing digital transformation collaboratively.

➢ A detailed Architecture Plan that will describe the suite of services and standards needed to achieve the future vision.

➢ An API Framework that describes new standards, guidance, and a management lifecycle for EE and EN APIs and services.

➢ A Roadmap that lays out timelines and steps for implementing the Digital Strategy .

➢ Practical guidance that agencies can give to developers and contractors to promote more useful, shareable, and interoperable technology projects.

The roadmap, slated for FY 2020, will set specific implementation steps, timelines, and responsibilities along the path to a more responsive and efficient enterprise. Paired with a forthcoming architecture, the roadmap will clarify:

➢ The portfolio and timing of EE services.

➢ How to connect with those services and build software that is interoperable.

➢ How to plan technology investments supported by a broadly shared vision.

➢ How to design and manage interoperable APIs that conform to new EE/EN standards and best practices.

I-B. Grant Program Funding History and Results FY 2020 is the 19th year EPA will award competitive funding to eligible partners for projects through the Exchange Network Grant Program. Between FY 2002 and FY 2019, EPA provided approximately $236 million for state, tribal, and territorial awards and associated program support through the grant program. As of October 1, 2019, all 50 states and the District of Columbia, 81 tribes, and 5 territories have received EN grants. These grants support better environmental decisions by promoting the use of more timely and consistent data which is shareable by partners across the EN as well as by environmental professionals and the public. For descriptions of previously awarded EN Grants, please see: https://www.epa.gov/exchangenetwork/previous-exchange-network-grant-projects.

I-C. Assistance Activities This Exchange Network Grant Program Solicitation Notice requests states, tribes, inter-tribal consortia, and territories submit applications with goal(s) supporting the EN priorities set forth by EE/EN governance. The priorities are found in Section I-E and explained further in Appendices A, B, and C. Applicants may propose projects that include activities other than those listed as examples in Section I-E and Appendices A-C, provided they are consistent with priorities set forth by the EE/EN governance groups and conform to EN technologies, services, and specifications.

EPA will determine the eligibility of each applicant (see Section III-A). EPA will then evaluate applications from eligible applicants based on the evaluation criteria in Section V-A.

Applicants are responsible for reading and complying with the instructions and criteria described in this solicitation. Please note that extensive application guidance, including tools such as optional templates and a completion checklist, are available in Appendix E, Appendix F, Appendix G, Appendix H, and Appendix I.

https://www.epa.gov/exchangenetwork/previous-exchange-network-grant-projects

I-D. Environmental Results Supported by Assistance Activities The activities to be funded under this announcement are intended to support Goal 3: Greater Certainty, Compliance, and Effectiveness, Objective 3.4: ‘Streamline and Modernize’ of the EPA’s FY 2018-22 Strategic Plan.

Applicants must explicitly state their support of Goal 3, Objective 3.4: ‘Streamline and Modernize’ within their project narrative and identify language under this objective which links to their proposal’s project outputs. Applicants are encouraged to read the full text of Goal 3, Objective 3.4 under the EPA Strategic Plan, available at: https://www.epa.gov/planandbudget/fy-2018-2022-epa-strategic-plan. Please note that FY20 Exchange Network grant applications are not required to reflect all aspects of this strategic objective, nor are they restricted to permitting projects.

In addition to Goal 3, Objective 3.4, awards may also support other strategic goals and objectives of the EPA strategic plan such as:

➢ Goal 1: A Cleaner, Healthier Environment o Objective 1.1 Improve Air Quality o Objective 1.2 Provide for Clean and Safe Water o Objective 1.3 Revitalize Land and Prevent Contamination o Objective 1.4 Ensure Safety of Chemicals in the Marketplace

➢ Goal 2: More Effective Partnerships o Objective 2.1 Enhance Shared Accountability o Objective 2.2 Increase Transparency and Public Participation

➢ Goal 3: Greater Certainty, Compliance, and Effectiveness o Objective 3.2 Create Consistency and Certainty o Objective 3.5 Improve Efficiency and Effectiveness

EPA requires that grant applicants adequately describe environmental outputs and outcomes to be achieved under assistance agreements (see EPA Order 5700.7A1, Environmental Results under Assistance Agreements).

Applicants must include specific statements describing the environmental results of the proposed project in terms of well-defined outputs and, to the maximum extent practicable, well-defined outcomes that will demonstrate how the project will contribute to the goals and objectives described above.

https://www.epa.gov/planandbudget/fy-2018-2022-epa-strategic-plan https://www.epa.gov/planandbudget/fy-2018-2022-epa-strategic-plan https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2015-03/documents/epa_order_5700_7a1.pdf https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2015-03/documents/epa_order_5700_7a1.pdf

I-E. Exchange Network Program Priorities This section presents specific funding priorities for the FY 2020 EN Grants Program. The priorities stated here are aligned with the priorities of the EE/EN governance bodies. There are five priorities for the FY 2020 EPA Exchange Network Grant Program:

➢ Priority 1: Integrate foundational EN services into environmental business processes.

➢ Priority 2: Eliminate industry paper reporting and expand e-reporting among co-regulators.

➢ Priority 3: Expand data access and availability.

➢ Priority 4: Improve environmental management through advanced data monitoring and transmittal processes.

➢ Priority 5: Augment the information management capacity of EN partners.

EN grant applicants can apply under one or multiple Exchange Network priorities within a single application. Applicants are encouraged to specifically state which EN priorit(ies) they are applying under within the ‘Project Description’ section of their project narrative.

Details on the purpose, background, available services and cost estimates for project activities are contained in the appendices at the end of this solicitation. Applicants can propose projects that align with one or more of the following funding opportunities.

Each funding opportunity in the following section is organized by the priority it supports and labelled as an individual opportunity, a partnership opportunity, or both. Applicants applying under an individual opportunity may request up to $200,000 in funding. Applicants applying under a partnership opportunity may request funds up to $400,000 , if the partnership eligibility criteria outlined in Section III-D is met.

Additionally, EPA will only consider applications for partnership projects if the project’s work is intended to be nationally scalable, to give these projects the best opportunity to succeed on the national/regional scale. Applicants without partners should apply for the individual opportunities, which may result in scalable products, but are usually focused on activities supporting their own organizations’ business goals to integrate their business into the EN.

Funding Opportunities under Priority 1:

Integrate Foundational EN Services into Environmental Business Processes

The ‘build once, use many times’ philosophy of the EN is demonstrated in the services available to all EE/EN partners. These services enable individual organizations to avoid costs associated with building, securing and maintaining the data and technology infrastructure supporting the implementation of their program missions. Usage of the foundational services related to reference look-up tables and data validation services also result in more consistent and better-quality data for use in program implementation. A summary of each foundational EN service is contained in this section. Additional information, cost estimates, and activities to consider when proposing projects for this opportunity are found in Appendix B.

Applicants applying under Priority 1 may propose projects in one or any combination of the three following sub-categories:

1) Integrate Foundational EN Services into their Business Processes:

➢ Virtual Exchange Services (VES) (Individual Opportunity)

➢ Enterprise Identity Bridge (Identity Management) (Partnership Opportunity)

➢ Shared CROMERR Services (Individual Opportunity)

➢ Substance Registry Service (SRS) (Individual Opportunity)

Applicants applying under an individual opportunity may request funds up to $200,000.

Applicants applying under a partnership opportunity may request funds up to $400,000, if the partnership eligibility criteria outlined in Section III-D is met.

2) Establish Partnerships for Continued Development of EN Foundational Services:

➢ E-Enterprise Portal (Individual/Partnership Opportunity)

➢ Law and Regulations Service (LRS) (Partnership Opportunity)

Applicants applying under a partnership opportunity may request funds up to $400,000, if the

3) Develop a New e-Permitting or e-Reporting Shared Service (Partnership Opportunity)

The focus of this opportunity is to enable states, tribes or territories to develop and implement a service related to reporting or permitting from the regulated community for use across the entire EE/EN community. This is a partnership opportunity and will be a cooperative agreement with EPA.

The application must clearly explain the roles of all partners including EPA. The proposed service should not be duplicative of an existing EE shared service and demonstrate the inclusion of requirements from multiple partners within a same line of business. Automated solutions should be connected to results of an EPA or partner process improvement activity, such as LEAN, focused on improving the permitting process. The applicant must demonstrate the scalability and share-ability of the proposed service.

Potential activities could include but are not limited to:

➢ Working with EE/EN partners to identify common processes in e-Reporting and e-Permitting spanning across environmental programs and agencies.

➢ Working with results from a federal or state agency process improvement activity to develop or implement an existing, shared service solution improving the exchange of permitting information.

➢ Proposing the establishment of an e-Reporting/e-Permitting team of EPA and partners under the EE/EN governance to address process requirements and common approaches resulting in, or informing the development of, shared services.

➢ Develop and test minimally viable products automating increments of e-Reporting and e- Permitting processes for both external and internal parties.

➢ Develop guidance, starter kits and outreach materials for these shared services to ensure a wide adoption, as applicable.

This opportunity encompasses the design, development, testing, and at a minimum, limited deployment of the service. Creation of a prototype, pilot or other limited-type functioning IT product is an acceptable example of limited deployment of the service. For this application to be eligible for funding, applicants must agree to include mechanisms for the maintenance and sustainability of this service and include a Service Level Agreement outlining what expectations service users can have.

Additionally, EPA has developed a Title V Electronic Permitting System (EPS) to a llow EPA to receive and collaborate on air permits from permitting authorities. This system, designed with the same shared services used by states to submit State Implementation Plans to EPA (SPeCS for SIPS), is being used by EPA Regions to receive draft Title V permits from participating states.

EPA is looking to explore the potential for increased state and tribal involvement in the CAA permitting processing using EPS, which may include collaboration with partners on improving efficiency of EPS and opportunities for exchanging and integrating data and services locally or centrally to support public information requests.

Applicants applying under this partnership opportunity may request funds up to $400,000, if the

Funding Opportunity under Priority 2:

Eliminate Industry Paper Reporting and Expand e-Reporting Among Co-Regulators

1) Data Flows (Individual Opportunity) Submitting data to priority data systems continues to be an Exchange Network grant priority. This includes many of the original priority systems (prior to 2012) and systems developed since 2012. If you are new to one of the following programs on the EN, applications are still being considered for many of the original priority systems or building out a new exchange identified more recently by a program. Applicants must commit to putting an exchange into production to receive funding for establishing a new exchange. Applicants may propose to put one or more of the following data flows into production.

The original priority systems still being considered for funding in FY 2020 are as follows:

➢ Air Quality System (AQS)

➢ eBeaches

➢ Emissions Inventory System (EIS)

➢ Facility Registry Service (FRS)

➢ Integrated Compliance Information System – National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (ICIS-NPDES)

➢ Resource Conservation and Recovery Act Information (RCRAInfo)

➢ Toxic Release Inventory System (TRIS)

➢ Water Quality Exchange (WQX)

New priority systems include:

➢ Assessment TMDL Tracking and Implementation System (ATTAINS)

➢ Combined Air Emissions Reporting (CAER)

➢ Compliance Monitoring Data Portal (CMDP)

➢ Electronic Notice of Intent (eNOI) flow to Integrated Compliance Information System –

National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (ICIS-NPDES)

➢ Integrated Compliance Information System – Air (ICIS-Air) [replaced Air Facility System]

➢ Radon Data Exchange

➢ Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS)

➢ Drinking Water State Revolving Fund and Clean Water State Revolving Fund Database

➢ Underground Injection Control (UIC) [Data Availability Projects]

Appendix A provides additional information from EPA Program Offices related to many of these priority systems, including activities grant applicants should consider.

Applicants establishing new data flows should consider reusing existing foundational services where appropriate (i.e. Virtual Exchange Services or Shared CROMERR Services) as many of these services will reduce the cost and time required to implement a new exchange. Additionally, an applicant’s adherence to the EN principle of ‘build once, reuse many times’ is one of the many factors that comprises a grant application’s score (see Section V-A Evaluation Criteria).

Funding Opportunity under Priority 3:

Expand Data Access and Availability

1) Data Availability Projects (Partnership Opportunity) Development of reusable and discoverable (or reuse of existing) tools and applications, with demonstrated interest by other EE/EN partners, delivering automated access to environmental data continues to be a priority in FY 2020. These tools include, but are not limited to:

o APIs and microservices for data access – to include accessing records, querying, filtering, aggregating and other data access services.

o Desktop, laptop and tablet/smartphone applications providing access to and analyze/display environmental data.

o Websites providing users access to data sets and a range of analytical and display tools.

o Dashboards providing real time program status information to program managers and executives.

o All applications, whether desktop, mobile, web app, or dashboards, should follow an API-first design methodology.

Applicants should consider opportunities to share data across programs within their organization, across agencies within a state or tribe, across states or with EPA. EPA is especially interested in applications/websites supporting cross-program data integration and supporting more efficient environmental business processes such as permit writing, compliance inspections, cross- jurisdictional data comparisons, analyses or integration.

Applicants should also consider opportunities to build applications/websites supporting EPA’s open data and transparency goals https://www.epa.gov/open as well as emerging Federal Open Data goals under the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act and Federal Data Strategy, and serving interested non- governmental organizations, research institutions, other communities of interest and the public.

Choosing the appropriate technology approach for a data availability project is one of the key decis ions in preparing a grant application. The project narrative should explain how the project and technology choice meet the applicant’s business needs and how the project complies with Exchange Network guidance and standards. As part of the ongoing development of the E-Enterprise Digital Strategy, EE/EN governance is actively developing an API framework that will include guidance, standards, and tools for developers of APIs and other services. Recipients of FY2020 grants should regularly consult with the EE/EN websites to ensure that their work is consistent with this new framework, guidance, and standards.

Grantees should make data available in eXtensible Markup Language (XML) format or, as business needs dictate, another machine-readable format such as JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) or Comma Separated Values (CSV or flat file). Additionally, the data should include appropriate metadata, conforming to Project Open Data Metadata Schema 1.1 https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/ and a data dictionary with data element descriptions. The data should be of regional and/or national interest. Example datasets of interest include institutional controls at contamination sites, data on cleanup sites, data sets of national significance to tribes (such as open dumps), Underground Storage Tank data, and data supporting environmental management of multi-state or regional airsheds, watersheds and water bodies of priority concern. See Appendix A for more http://www.epa.gov/open https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/ https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/ detail on specific project opportunities. Information on the Exchange Network’s current technical standards and design guidance are available on the EN website:

(http://www.exchangenetwork.net/knowledge-base).

2) Enabling Geospatial Data: Open Data Services (Individual Opportunity)

Applicants should consider opportunities to publish geospatial data sets critical to their missions, including, but not limited to administrative boundaries such as those at Superfund national priority list sites, cadastral data and facility and compliance related data regularly updated and can be integrated with the Facility Registry Service. In addition, applicants are encouraged to review the list of 176 geospatial datasets designated as National Geospatial Data Assets by the Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) Steering Committee (https://www.fgdc.gov/what-we-do/manage-federal-geospatial-resources/a-16-portfolio-management/ngda-themes-and-datasets) to ascertain if there are any additional publishing opportunities for these data sets supporting the mission goals of multiple federal, state and local agencies. Data should be published as open, standards compliant data services accessible through REST APIs and can be easily integrated into applications by EPA, state, tribal or territorial partners and the public and can be registered in EPA’s Environmental Dataset Gateway (EDG), data.gov and geoplatform.gov.

Applicants applying under this individual opportunity may request funds up to $200,000.

http://www.exchangenetwork.net/knowledge-base) http://www.exchangenetwork.net/knowledge-base) https://www.fgdc.gov/what-we-do/manage-federal-geospatial-resources/a-16-portfolio-management/ngda-themes-and-datasets https://www.fgdc.gov/what-we-do/manage-federal-geospatial-resources/a-16-portfolio-management/ngda-themes-and-datasets https://edg.epa.gov/metadata/catalog/main/home.page https://www.data.gov/ https://www.geoplatform.gov/

Funding Opportunity under Priority 4:

Improve Environmental Management through Advanced Data Monitoring & Transmittal Processes

1) Continuous Water Quality Monitoring (Partnership Opportunity) Continuous water quality monitoring (monitoring performed with a sensor measuring a particular parameter or suite of parameters automatically at set intervals) is becoming more common. This project takes advantage of current thinking on the publishing approaches defined in the E-Enterprise and Exchange Network Digital Strategy. Partners should consider approaches to make water quality sensor data available via a publishing service and make it searchable from a central portal operat ed by EPA or by a project partner. The EPA Office of Water (OW) completed a pilot to enable this type of data exchange (outcomes from the pilot are available here:

https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2017-01/documents/iwn_lessonslearned_final_201612.pdf.

The pilot project developed a demonstration portal integrating data from 8 different partners, and adding additional partners is straight forward, but does require partners to be able to publish data using the approved Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) WaterML 2.0 standard and the Sensor Observation Service. In 2018, the E-Enterprise Advanced Monitoring team developed a recommendation report on the data standards used for publishing sensor data. This report is available at:https://e-enterprisefortheenvironment.net/our-projects/data-standards-for-continuous-monitoring-data/. In 2018, EPA completed a reusable component for publishing data using these standards. This component allows a partner to register their sensors and publish the data using the OGC standards. This ‘Data Appliance’ can be deployed as a containerized Docker implementation using open-source software. This component is currently available on EPA’s GitHub at:

https://github.com/USEPA/Interoperable-Watersheds-Network-Data-Appliance. Partners are invited to make enhancements to this component and would be encouraged to share any of those enhancements back with EPA and the rest of the community. This component can be deployed in an agency’s environment or in a cloud environment. In addition to this EPA developed component, data providers should look to off-the-shelf software where possible to meet the needs of publishing data.

2) Field Data Collection Collaborative Pilots (Individual Opportunity) Grant applicants applying under this opportunity are requested to develop mobile applications built on technology-neutral services leveraging Facility Registry Service (FRS) and Substance Registry Service (SRS) API’s for field data collection, review and correction of locations, sub-facility features, facility details and substance identities. Through cooperative agreements, pilot partners will work with EPA to develop standard data templates and data formats.

https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2017-01/documents/iwn_lessonslearned_final_201612.pdf https://e-enterprisefortheenvironment.net/our-projects/data-standards-for-continuous-monitoring-data/ https://e-enterprisefortheenvironment.net/our-projects/data-standards-for-continuous-monitoring-data/ https://github.com/USEPA/Interoperable-Watersheds-Network-Data-Appliance

Funding Opportunity Under Priority 5:

Augment the Information Management Capacity of EN Partners.

1) Territory and Tribal Individual Capacity Building (Individual Opportunity) Territories, tribes and inter-tribal consortia are eligible to apply for individual capacity building grants enhancing the applicant’s environmental programs and the applicant’s ability to manage and share environmental data electronically with EN partners and tribal citizens. Applications must identify outputs which will increase the applicant’s ability to share environmental information electronically with EPA and other EN partners and tribal citizens. Examples of a priority data system include the development of a backend database and tools for entering/moving/checking the included data or implementing an intra-tribal data exchange. Applications may include developing a data management plan, but the plan must lead to the development of a test or prototype system.

Applicants may apply for an individual capacity building grant up to $200,000.

2) Territory and Tribal Collaborative Capacity Building (Partnership Opportunity) Additionally, territories, tribes and inter-tribal consortia are eligible to apply for partnership grants which must include one or more partners. Additional eligibility requirements for partnership grants can be found in Section III-D.

Applicants may apply for a collaborative capacity building grant up to $400,000, if the partnership eligibility criteria outlined in Section III-D is met.

I-F. Identifying Mentors First time Exchange Network (EN) state, tribe, or territorial applicants are encouraged to consider identifying a mentor for their project. This is applicable to any new applicant, including instrumentalities of a state, an agency/department within a state, tribe, or territory, and those applying under Appendix C: Strengthening Partner Information Management Capabilities.

The identified mentor should be a previous EN grant recipient that has successfully completed an EN grant and that currently reports or publishes data for one or more environmental programs using their own node or Virtual Exchange Services.

An applicant utilizing a mentor should include a commitment letter from the mentoring state, tribe, territory, or intertribal consortium (see ‘Additional Attachments’ on Page E-6) in their application package. Applicants are also encouraged to identify their mentor within the project narrative (see project narrative section ‘Programmatic Involvement and Mentor Support’ on Page E-3.)

For assistance in finding an appropriate mentor, applicants should consider contacting the:

➢ Environmental Council of the States (ECOS) o Applicable to state or territorial grant applicants o Contact Kurt Rakouskas, Program Manager, at krakouskas@ecos.org

➢ Institute for Tribal Environmental Professionals (ITEP) o Applicable to tribal applicants o Mentoring resources are not limited to data exchange, but also include training in database development, data management and quality control that are intended to support the exchange of information o Contact Lydia Scheer, Project Manager, at lydia.scheer@nau.edu

Applicants may also find the following websites helpful for identifying potential mentors:

➢ E-Enterprise Community Inventory Platform (EECIP) o www.eecip.net o An online community and living project inventory for employees of federal, tribal, territorial and state environmental agencies to enter information about agency projects, technical environment and their own professional interests.

➢ Previous Projects Page of the EN Website:

o https://www.epa.gov/exchangenetwork/previous-exchange-network-grant-projects o This page of the EN grants website allows for potential applicants to view previously awarded EN grant projects, organized by fiscal year.

Please note that the identification of a mentor does not automatically qualify an applicant for an EN partnership grant. The applicant must meet the criteria established for partnership grants to qualify for the higher funding threshold (see Section III-D).

Please further note that the identification of a mentor is not a requirement for any applicant, nor will it factor into the scoring of an applicant’s application.

mailto:krakouskas@ecos.org mailto:lydia.scheer@nau.edu http://www.eecip.net/ https://www.epa.gov/exchangenetwork/previous-exchange-network-grant-projects

II. Award Information

II-A. General Information In FY 2020, EPA expects to award about $8,000,000 for 20-30 assistance agreements of up to $400,000 each. The exact number of grants will depend on the final amount of EPA’s appropriation for the grant program, the number of applications submitted to EPA by the application deadline, the amounts of proposed budgets and the outcome of application reviews.

Most awards will be in the $50,000 to $300,000 range. Awards covering an individual recipient’s project cannot exceed $200,000. EPA may make awards to collaborative, partnership assistance agreements. Budgets for these projects cannot exceed $400,000.

The standard period of performance for each project is three years.

EPA remains committed to awarding tribal assistance agreements equal to approximately 10 percent of the appropriated funds. The amount awarded to tribes may be greater than this minimum level, depending on the merit of tribal applications and on the competitive review of all applications.

Additional Awards EPA reserves the right to make additional awards under this announcement, consistent with Agency policy, if additional funding becomes available after the original selections. EPA will make any additional selections for awards no later than six months from the date of the original selections.

Partial Funding In appropriate circumstances, EPA reserves the right to partially fund applications by funding discrete portions or phases of proposed projects. If EPA decides to partially fund an application, it will do so in a manner not prejudicing any applicants or affecting the basis upon which the application or portion thereof, was evaluated and selected for award, and therefore maintains the integrity of the competition and selection process.

II-B. Types of Assistance EPA may award assistance agreements funded through the EM Grant Program as grants or cooperative agreements, in-kind services or direct funding, single applicant or partnership grants, or as part of the applicant’s Performance Partnership Grants (PPG). EPA will consider an applicant’s preferences when the Agency decides what type of assistance to award.

EPA will consider the following options for awarding EN resources:

➢ Grant or Cooperative Agreement Grants represent direct funding to a recipient to support an identified project with defined environmental results. A cooperative agreement anticipates substantial involvement from EPA, in collaboration with the recipient, to achieve project results. EPA will negotiate the precise terms and conditions of “substantial involvement” as part of the award process if a cooperative agreement is chosen. Federal involvement may include close monitoring of the recipient’s performance, collaboration during the performance of the scope of work, and, in accordance with 2 CFR 200.317 and 2 CFR 200.318, as appropriate, review of proposed procurements, reviewing qualifications of key personnel, and/or review and comment on the content of printed or electronic publications prepared. EPA does not have the authority to select employees or contractors employed by the recipient. The final decision on the content of reports rests with the recipient. If the recipient does not identify a preference, EPA’s default award will be a grant.

➢ Direct Funding or In-Kind Services EPA will consider grantee requests to use all or a portion of awarded grant funds to provide in-kind services to the recipient through an EPA contract vehicle. Applicants should request and justify project efficiencies they expect from this approach. Applicants should also identify whether they are requesting direct funding, in-kind services, or a combination of the two in both their cover letter and project narrative (see Page E-2).

➢ Single Applicant or Partnership Grants (see Sections III-D and IV-B) Single applicant grants have a maximum funding threshold of $200,000. Single applicant grant opportunities have been labeled as ‘Individual Opportunity’ within Section I-E Exchange Network Program Priorities. EPA will consider the higher funding limit ($400,000) for projects including one or more EN partner. Partnership grant opportunities have been labeled as ‘Partnership Opportunity’ within Section I-E Exchange Network Program Priorities. EPA will not consider partnerships formed from Agencies within a single state, territorial or tribal government as eligible. Additional eligibility criteria for partnership applications can be found in Section III-D.

➢ Performance Partnership Grants (PPG)/Consolidated Grants In 1996, Congress authorized EPA to award Performance Partnership Grants (PPGs). As a result, States, certain interstate agencies, and tribes can now choose to combine two or more environmental program grants into a single PPG. Territories may also consolidate their various grants through a single Consolidated Grant. An applicant whose organization has an existing Performance Partnership Grant (PPG) with EPA may request that any new grant recommended for funding be incorporated into the PPG. Similarly, a territorial applicant whose territory has a Consolidated Grant (CG) with EPA may request new awards be incorporated into the CG. An applicant may also request to create a new PPG that includes the project proposed under this solicitation. Absent a request from the recipient for inclusion in or creation of a PPG or CG, EPA will award the grant in a stand-alone vehicle. See Section III-F for additional information.

III. Eligibility Information The Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance number for the Exchange Network Grant Program is

66.608 (https://beta.sam.gov/).

III-A. Eligible Applicants Eligible applicants for the Exchange Network Grant Program include states, U.S. Territories (i.e., American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the District of Columbia, Guam, Palau, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands), federally recognized Indian tribes and Alaska Native Villages and inter-tribal consortia of federally recognized tribes (e.g., the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission).

Other entities, such as regional air pollution control districts and some public universities may apply for assistance if they are agencies or instrumentalities of a state under applicable state laws. These entities, as well as other entities submitting applications asserting they are agencies or instrumentalities of a state, must provide with the application a letter from the appropriate state Attorney General certifying the applicant is an agency or instrumentality of the state. EPA will not consider an application not containing the required documentation.

EPA recognizes the delegation for some programs extends to local governments, which are responsible for reporting data to EPA. Local governments can demonstrate they are instrumentalities of the state by providing the documentation described in the preceding paragraph which demonstrates the applicant’s eligibility to apply for Exchange Network grants. However, most local governments implementing EPA programs are not agencies or instrumentalities of the state and therefore, are not eligible to apply. EPA encourages such entities to partner with a state applicant to allow for their data to be reported and shared through the EN. Interstate commissions and other interstate entities, likewise, are not eligible to apply and are encouraged to partner with a state applicant.

EPA will only evaluate applications from eligible entities . Interested parties not meeting the eligibility criteria may consider partnering with eligible applicants (see examples below).

EPA will notify applicants ineligible for funding within 15 calendar days of the ineligibility determination. Applicants with questions about eligibility can contact Erika Beasley, at (202) 566- 2530 or beasley.erika@epa.gov.

Examples of Eligible Applicants:

➢ State Department of Environmental Quality

➢ Territorial Environment Division

➢ Tribal Council on behalf of two or more tribal environmental and/or health agencies

➢ State Department of Public Health

➢ Tribal Water Quality Administration

➢ State Office of the Chief Information Officer

➢ Regional Air Quality Board delegated authority for the air program

➢ State university where the university or the university system is formally designated as an instrumentality of the state https://beta.sam.gov/ mailto:beasley.erika@epa.gov

III-B. Threshold Eligibility Criteria for Applications Applications from eligible applicants (see Section III-A) are only eligible for Exchange Network funding if they meet the requirements listed below. Applicants deemed ineligible for funding consideration as a result of the threshold eligibility review will be notified within 15 calendar days of the ineligibility determination.

1. An application includes goal(s) leading to completion of activities listed in the Priorities Section

(I-E), additional activities identified in Appendix A, B, C, or others consistent with EN priorities.

Completion in the context of the EN means placing a data flow, data publishing, web service or other eligible projects into production.

2. a. An application must substantially comply with the application submission instructions and requirements set forth in Section IV of this announcement or they will be rejected. However, where a page limit is expressed in Section IV with respect to application, pages in excess of the page limitation will not be reviewed.

b. In addition, an application must be submitted through grants.gov as stated in Section IV and Appendix E of this announcement (except in the limited circumstances where another mode of submission is specifically allowed for as explained in Section IV) on or before the application submission deadline published in Section IV of this announcement.

Applicants are responsible for following the submission instructions in Section IV and Appendix E: Detailed Instructions for Submitting Applications through Grants.gov of this announcement to ensure their application is timely submitted.

c. An application submitted after the submission deadline will be considered late and deemed ineligible without further consideration unless the applicant can clearly demonstrate it was late due to EPA mishandling or because of technical problems associated with grants.gov or relevant SAM.gov system issues. An applicant’s failure to submit their application on time through grants.gov because they did not allow enough time to properly register in SAM.gov or grants.gov will not be considered an acceptable reason to consider a late submission.

Applicants should receive email confirmation from grants.gov of their application’s submission within two business days in the form of two emails:

➢ The first email, sent immediately after submission, will confirm receipt of the application by grants.gov and contain a tracking number.

➢ The second email will indicate the application has been successfully validated or rejected due to errors.

Applicants should also confirm receipt of their application with Erika Beasley at (202) 566-2530 or beasley.erika@epa.gov as soon as possible after the submission deadline. Failure to do so may result in your application not being reviewed.

3. An application must not have:

a. Project periods longer than three years.

b. Budgets greater than $200,000 for single applicant applications.

c. Budgets greater than $400,000 for partnership applications.

https://www.grants.gov/ http://www.grants.gov/ https://www.sam.gov/SAM/ https://www.sam.gov/SAM/ https://www.grants.gov/ mailto:beasley.erika@epa.gov

Applicants may submit more than one application; however, applicants are not eligible to receive more than one award under this opportunity.

4. Applicants may not have more than four active Exchange Network assistance agreements with the Agency as of as of December 31, 2019. EPA considers an assistance agreement active if the Agency has not yet approved the final technical report. EPA will consider an agreement closed if the Regional Project Officer approves the applicant’s final technical report on or before December 31, 2019.

Note: If an agency is a participant in an EN partnership grant, but not the lead agency, their participation in the grant will not be counted as an active assistance agreement. Also, agencies within a state are treated as separate applicants. For example, Alabama Department of Environmental Quality and Alabama Department of Public Health are separate applicants.

5. Applications must not request funds for activities or deliverables for which the applicant has previously received funds. If a proposed goal is like one previously funded, the application must describe how previously funded activities differ from those currently proposed or how the current application will complement past or ongoing work.

III-C. Funding Restrictions Applicants may propose EN project funding for costs associated with personnel salaries and fringe benefits, Intergovernmental Personnel Act Agreements (IPAs) travel, travel related to EN activities, equipment, supplies, contractual costs, in-kind services provided…